Pelicot trial inspires rape survivor to speak out

A French woman who reveals that she drugged and raped says Gisele Pelicot inspired her to seek justice.

Transcript

00:00Justine doesn't yet feel safe enough to talk publicly.

00:07She says she was raped and filmed after being given drugs in late 2021.

00:12But watching Giselle Pellicourt has given her new hope.

00:18Pellicourt is facing her abusers with her head held high and not behind closed doors

00:25as usually in a rape case.

00:28Giselle is a shining light that's exposing a dark side of society which some are trying

00:33to hide.

00:35We need to follow her lead.

00:37She stands for the power of speaking out, for the message that shame must change sides.

00:43It's the abusers who should feel ashamed, not us.

00:47She has given me the courage to return to court, which had put my case on hold.

00:52I will not give up until they pick it up again.

00:58Three years ago, Justine says, a female acquaintance drugged her and forced her into having sex

01:05with her and a man.

01:08She says the woman filmed the abuse and sent the videos to some of her friends and neighbours.

01:13Her lawyer filed rape charges after the police refused to do so.

01:18I'm absolutely devastated by what's happened to me.

01:22I get up in the morning thinking of this rape and the videos of it.

01:27I have to live with this abuse every day.

01:29I go to bed with it and the nightmares of it wake me up.

01:34A trained psychologist, Justine has found her own way of keeping her head above water

01:40while also helping other survivors.

01:44I did a few sessions of hypnosis and EMDR trauma therapy and realised they were helping

01:49me a lot.

01:50And so I learned how to give such therapy sessions to my patients, many of whom have

01:54been sexually abused.

01:56By helping them heal, I am healing myself.

01:59Maybe one day these deep wounds will close, but the scars of what we've gone through

02:03will be there forever.

02:09She hopes French society will be forced to change now, triggered by the sheer horror

02:15of the Pili court case.

02:18Through this court case, something has started that cannot be stopped.

02:23I hope that in the future, the police will have to systematically follow up on our complaints

02:29and the courts will have to take them into account.

02:33Her lawsuit shines a light on chemical submission.

02:38It highlights how even Mr Average could be a rapist and that chemical submission is really

02:44widespread across all walks of life.

02:51The government will revive a parliamentary commission on chemical submission, which could

02:56initiate a shift in the law.

02:59Justine is hoping that this will help her and other survivors to finally feel less alone.